Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band Tour Stops in Columbus Tonight

Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band are touring North America, making a stop in Columbus to celebrate the March 5, 2013, release of The Beast in Its Tracks, the sixth full-length recording from the renowned singer/songwriter who has been widely heralded by critics and fans alike. Of the record, Ritter said, "In the year after my marriage ended, I realized that I had more new songs than I'd ever had at one time. These new songs felt like rocks in the shoe, hard little nuggets of whatever they were, be it spite, remorse, or happiness."

CAPA presents Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band with special guest Sea Wolf at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.) tonight, April 15, at 8pm. Tickets are $29 at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000. Young people aged 13-25 may purchase $5 PNC Arts Alive All Access tickets while available. For more information, visit www.GoFor5.com.

Recorded during 2011-12 at the Great North Sound Society in Parsonsfield, Maine, The Beast in Its Tracks continues Ritter's long-time collaboration with producer and keyboard player Sam Kassirer. As Ritter describes, "I hadn't composed this stuff, I'd scrawled it down, just trying to keep ahead of the heartbreak. They needed to be recorded like that. We needed to work fast, make decisions quickly, keep the songs as spare as they could be kept, and above all never allow ourselves to blunt the sharp edges. Some of the songs were mean or evil. So be it."

The new album follows Ritter's 2010 release, So Runs the World Away, of which Bob Boilen from NPR Music declared, "I've come to expect good records from him...but this one took my breath away," while the Boston Globe praised, "quite sensational...marks the finest music he has made."

In 2011, Ritter made his debut as a published author with his New York Times best-selling novel, Bright's Passage. Of the work, Stephen King writes in The New York Times Book Review, "Shines with a compressed lyricism that recalls Ray Bradbury in his prime . . . This is the work of a gifted novelist." For more information, visit www.JoshRitter.com.

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, education excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. CAPA also appreciates the support of the Chester B. and Harriet D. Isaac, Barbara J. Haddox, and Charlotte R. Haller funds of The Columbus Foundation, assisting donors and others in strengthening our community for the benefit of all of its citizens, and the Greater Columbus Arts Council, supporting the city's artists and arts organizations since 1973.

Owner/operator of downtown Columbus' magnificent, historic theatres (Ohio Theatre, Palace Theatre, Southern Theatre) and manager of the Riffe Center Theatre Complex, Lincoln Theatre, and Shubert Theater (New Haven, CT), CAPA is a not-for-profit, award-winning presenter of national and international performing arts and entertainment in operation for more than 40 years. For more information, visit www.capa.com.

Photo Credit: Sam Kassirer

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